Redemption

Introductions (Old Version)

Upon getting confirmation from Enterprise that Miss Madeline was ready to proceed with the next step, me and commander Alex went through a list of all the ship girls currently on base and picked out the ones we felt would be beneficial to her welfare and had the least chance of upsetting her before calling them to meet in his office.

Vestal and Washington were the first ones to arrive, since they already knew who Madeline was and the story behind her, they could introduce her to the others who have yet to know the full truth and keep them in line from doing or saying anything that might upset her.

I would also be included in that task, seeing as I knew the score just as much as they did and follow them around the base while the commander stayed in his office and worked.

They both arrived sometime after 10:00 when the call was first made and conversed amongst each other tiredly in the hallway while waiting for the commander to call them in, which I thought was a little rude of him since he revealed that it was only because he was waiting for the other three to get here before discussing anything.

Fortunately, he soon got a call twenty minutes later that they had just entered the building and granted me permission to let the two in the room, which I did so immediately and then proceeded to watch the two march in with cross faces and Washington raise her finger pointedly towards the commander.

"You have some nerve making us wait that long, you could have at least let us in." She said to him.

The commander leaned back in his chair and cracked his neck, "Well... I figured that it would be better if you two were here before Madeline and Enterprise arrived so that you could bring the other three people we're letting in on this whole thing up to speed. I would have preferred that we'd had a bit more time to introduce what the plan is regarding her but it seems like they instead choose to take their sweet time in getting here."

"So that's supposed to justify leaving us out there in that cold hallway."

"It's not that cold, besides the heating's on."

"Barely." Vestal added, clearly shivering a bit in her light breezy clothing and trying to wrap the extra bits of cloth around her.

"Look, will it make you feel better if I apologize?" The commander said resting his arms on his desk and his chin on his interlocked hands.

"No." "Maybe." Vestal and Washington both said at the same time, allowing him to slip in, "I'm sorry, there, we're all good." answering for seemingly both of them and upsetting Washington just a little bit more.

They continued arguing between each other while me and Vestal stood off to the side, trying desperately to tune them out until finally there was a knock on the door, silencing the two of them.

"Well, as fun as this has been, perhaps it would be better if we got down to business." He spoke and gestured over to me, "Belfast, can you let them in please."

I gave a quick nod and walked on over to the door, opening it for the people waiting on the other end.

The first person to walk through the door I instantly recognized as the battleship North Carolina, her long blond hair and tall figure paired with a white uniform and an armband displaying our state flag made it easy, she entered with the room with the same type of poise she took everywhere with her.

The person following her I judged as the Light Cruiser Reno, her short white hair bobbing with every step she took and her black skirt with white lining and a star emblazoned on it swaying with her movements, she looked a bit excited and a little anxious to be there so it was obvious to see that she was expecting to receive an assignment greater than the one she would be presented with.